Fregon in SA outback becomes focus of search for nurse Gayle Woodford
Mentions: Gayle Woodford Publication: ABC News (Australia) Date: 26 March 2016 Original: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-26/search-for-outback-nurse-gayle-woodford-continues/7277504 ---- Police searching for a South Australian outback nurse who disappeared in the middle of the night are focusing their efforts on her home community of Fregon. Gayle Woodford, 56, has not been seen since she and her husband went to bed on Wednesday night at their home in the remote APY Lands community, 1,200 kilometres north-west of Adelaide. The next day, the four-wheel drive ambulance Mrs Woodford used for work was found 400 kilometres away in Coober Pedy. Police found three people inside, and a 36-year-old man, from Fregon, has since been charged with the vehicle's theft. Police said the ambulance was being forensically examined. Officers have been using information from the ambulance's GPS to assist with their efforts to find Mrs Woodford. The data showed the ambulance left Fregon shortly after midnight on Wednesday and travelled to Mimili. In the early hours of Thursday, it travelled through Indulkana to Marla, arriving around daybreak. Police have dismissed a report that a woman, believed to be Mrs Woodford, was seen in a distressed state in the passenger seat of an ambulance near Marla on Thursday morning. "A witness in Marla has been able to discredit the unconfirmed sighting we had of Gayle at Marla the morning after her disappearance," Detective Superintendent Des Bray said. On the third day of the search, police are focussing their ground and air search on areas close to Fregon. Police from across the region, SES and CFS volunteers and community members have joined the search but have not found anything to assist with the investigation. Volunteers and community join search effort Superintendent Bray said on Friday that police had "very grave fears" for Mrs Woodford. "We are doing everything we possibly can in case she is out there somewhere injured," he said. "Gayle's last consultation was about 8:47pm at Fregon and around 9:00pm she returned home. "Gayle and her husband went to bed, and he didn't wake again until the following morning. "It's not uncommon for Gayle to be called out during the night during the course of her work so there was nothing necessarily suspicious about that to the husband." Police are keen to speak with anyone who saw the ambulance. Mrs Woodford is a nurse with the Indigenous health organisation the Nganampa Health Council, locals said, and her husband is a teacher in the area. Working in a 'pretty tough' place A spokesman for CRANAplus, a professional body for the remote and isolated health workforce, said the industry was finding Mrs Woodford's disappearance tough. "CRANAplus stands with the Nganampa Health Council, who is the health service provider out there, who do an amazing job in some pretty tough environments," Christopher Cliffe said. "I encourage everyone to just be hopeful that Gayle is found and returned safely to her family and at a later date we can work out how this sort of thing can be prevented." Category:ABC News (Australia) Category:Mar 2016